Collator



Aug. 26, 1969 w, THQMAS ETAL 3,463,481

COLLATOR Filed Jan. 31, 1967 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS WILBUR E.THOMAS ARTHUR T. NICKOLAUS .PQW, PM 15% ATTORNEY Aug. 26, 1969 w, THOMASETAL 3,463,481

COLLATOR Filed Jan. 31, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS WILBUR E. THOMASBY ARTHUR T. NICKOLAUS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,463,481 COLLATORWilbur E. Thomas, 165 Hillcrest Drive, Wayne, NJ.

07470, and Arthur T. Nickolaus, 212 Colfax Ave.,

Pomptou Lakes, NJ. 07442 1 Filed Jan. 31, 1967, Ser. No. 612,984 Int.Cl. B65h 39/04 US. Cl. 270-58 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Acollating device wherein the collating arms are linked together, andpivot collectively from the paper trays to a latched position, wherebypaper may be loaded intothe trays.

This invention relates generally to collators, and specifically tocollators in which the ejector arms and ejector feet may'be collectivelyraised out of engagement with the paper in the paper trays, and retainedin that disengaged position, for convenience reloading the paper trays.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a collator in whichthe paper trays may be easily reloaded without individually manipulatingthe ejector arms out of the way of the stack of paper being placed inthe trays.

It is another object of the invention to provide an ejector arm assemblywhich is automatically set for an ejection operation after the trays areloaded.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an extension track ina collator for ejector feet fingers to ride up on so that shorter thannormal sheets of paper may be collated; in collating shorter sheets, thefingers ride off the short sheet onto the extension track.

In collating devices, the trays have to be periodically replenished withpaper sheets, and the arms carrying the feed feet have to be manuallyraised so that the insertion of the paper is not obstructed by theejector foot. It has been found that a construction may be devisedwherein the arms carrying the ejector feet are simultaneously raised topermit the unobstructed deposit of additional sheets in each tray.

In collators, adaptability for various sizes of paper ishighlyjdesirable but is not always an available feature, because thefeed stroke of the ejector foot may ride beyond the paper stop whenshorter than normal sheets are collated. It has been found that ,amovablepaper stop can be applied to the feed tray, and the paper stopcan be provided with a'pivotable stroke, when shorter sheets are beingfed.

In collating devices, sheets of paper sometimes tend to deform and twistwhile they are being fed by the feed foot. This becomes a specialproblem when narrower full-width sheets are being fed, since the feedfinger would normally ride in the center of the tray, but wouldbedisposed off center with respect to the narrower sheets of paper. Ithas been found that a feed .ar-m may be used which is adjustable to theright or left of the center, thereby to accommodate narrower sheets ofpaper depending on whether they are positioned to right or left of thecenter. In this manner, any tendency of the paper to move out of thetray askew may be overcome by the proper repositioning of the feed armand the feed .foot. This permits the paper to be moved out of the trayin linear fashion.

It is yet anotherobject of the invention to provide an of variantlengths of paper, and off center for use with narrower sheets of paper.

These objects and advantages as well as other objects and advantages maybe attained by the device shown by way of illustration in the drawingsin which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of :a collating device with the sidewall exploded away;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of an adjustable paper tray with the paperstop in place; I

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a paper stop with a pivotable trackfor an ejector foot;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of a paper stop;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of an undercarriage, a cross arm andmotor drive;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a vertical ejector arm support;

FIGURE 7 is a view of the pivot arm for the ejector arm support;

FIGURE 8 is a view of the ejector arm support mounted on the squareejector arm cross shaft; and

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view of the engagement of the ejector armwith the ejector arm support to provide the lift for the ejector armwhen the ejector arm support is rotated with the square ejector armshaft.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the collator provides a housing11 generally rectangular in form. A plurality of tracks 12 are disposedin superposed relation, one to the other, attached to the side wall inthe housing 11, and extending longitudinally therein from the open frontof the housing to the rear. On these tracks 12, paper trays 13 aredisposed. The tracks slant downwardly toward the rear at an angle ofapproximately 10 degrees, although this angle is not critical. Into eachtrack, a paper tray 13 is inserted. The paper tray 13 is provided with athin central sheet 14 of high friction material which serves to keep thelowest sheet in the stack within the confines of the tray 13, and,likewise, the superposed sheets are frictionally engaged with each otherand are kept in the tray 13. A paper stop 15 is located in the tray tomaintain the sheets lying in the tray with their front edges in generalregistration with the outer edge 16 of the tray. This paper stop 15 isprovided with upwardly extending flanges 17 against which the rear edgesof the sheet to be collated are arranged in abut ment. As will be seenfrom FIGURE 4 the bottom of the paper stop 15 has L-shaped, struck-outfingers 18 which engage the holes 19 in the paper tray 13 forpositioning the paper stop. The paper stop 15 has a pivotable track 20.The track 20 may be lifted so that its forward end 21 will lie on top ofthe stack of papers. In this manner, when a short sheet is to bepositioned in the tray and ejected therefrom, the conventional feedfoot(not shown) will ride up on the track and not be damaged by contact withthe paper stop. A plurality of holes 19 are provided in the tray 13 sothat the paper stop may be adjusted to accommodate sheets of paper ofvarying lengths. It is also noted that some of the holes 22 are providedoffset from the center of the tray 13 so that, when a narrower sheet of,paper is positioned in the tray 13 for ejection, the paper stop 15 maybe offset from the center of the tray 13 and the track 21 on the paperstop 15 may be similarly offset. This feature is desirable since theejector arms are adjustable and may also be offset, as will hereinafterbe described.

On the opposite sides of the housing 11, there are providedundercarriage tracks 23. These tracks 23 provide surfaces for anundercarriage .24 to reciprocate on. The undercarriages 24 is is made ofa pair of generally vertically disposed members 25 arranged at oppositesides of the housing 11 and interconnected by a transverse member 26.Mounted on the vertical members 25, there are brackets 29. The brackets29 mount roller bearings 27 rotating in a vertical plane and rollerbearings 28 rtating in a horizontal plane. The transverse member 26interconnecting the brackets 29 functions as a track for rotary cam 30.A motor (not shown) in the base of the housing 11 rotates an arm 31which is connected to the cam and in this manner, the undercarriage 25is caused to move back and forth longitudinally within the housing 11.Vertical cross-arm holders 32 are mounted on the undercarriage 24 andare provided with a plurality of holes through which are passed squareshafts 33 which pass between the trays. The shafts 33 are connected tothe holders 32 by C-washers 34 and are free to rotate in round holes inthe holders 32. Each square shaft 33 has attaced thereto, :at one endadjacent to the cross-arm holder a link 35. The opposite end of theselinks are pivotably attached to a general vertical control rod 36. Thus,when the control rod 36 is raised, all of the links have square holes 37and rotate the square shafts 33. Ejector arm supports 38 mounted on thesquare shafts 33 are thereby raised. Generally at the center of thevertical control rod 36, a pivotable lift lever 58 is attached and issimilarly pivotably attached to the vertical crossarm holder 32. At theend of this lift lever 38, a pivotable detent 39 is mounted, and aspring 40 is attached to the upper end of the detent 39. The spring 40normally urges the lower end of the detent 39 in a forward and upwarddirection (see FIGURE 7). The lower end of this detent is normallypositioned below a shoulder 41 in the housing 11 which defines a seatfor the detent. At the front of the housing, a vertically slidablelifter 42 engages and raises the lifter lever 58. This permits thedetent 39 to ride over the seat 41; in passing the seat 41, the spring40 is overcome as the seat deflects the detent 39. When the detent 39rises above the seat 41, the spring 40 restores the detent 39 to normalposition, and the detent 39 now rests upon the seat 41. In thisposition, all of the square shafts 33 have been rotated by the links 35and the ejector arms 45 have thereby been raised and held in raisedposition, so that the ejector feet (not shown) :are raised from contactwith the paper in the trays. The raising of the ejector arms 45 and theejector feet above the top surface of the paper in the trays 13 permitsthe replenishment of the stack of paper sheets in each of the trays 13without the need for manually lifting each of the ejector arms 45 andejector feet out of the way. When the drive motor is reactivated, themovement of the undercarriage 24 draws the detent 39 off the seat 41,and permits the square shafts 33 to rotate back to their normalposition. Thus, the ejector arms 45 are automatically reset for theejection operation.

The elevation of the ejector arms 45 and the ejector feet out of contactwith the top sheet of the stack of papers in each tray 13 isaccomplished in the following manner. Each square shaft 33 is providedwith an ejector arm support 38 which is a generally square brackethaving a rear end wall 46 which is vertical and side walls 47, 47 whichare vertical. The side walls have square holes 37 to receive the squareshafts 33. It will be seen that the rotation of the square shafts 33will accomplish the rotation of the ejector arms 45. At the end of theejector arm 45, there is provided an ejector arm axle 48. The ejectorarm 45 has a generally vertical end wall 49 which impinges upon thegenerally horizontal bottom 50 of the ejector arm support 58. The bottomwall 50 of the ejector arm support 38 and the vertical end wall 49 ofthe ejector arm 45 are dimensioned (as will be seen in FIGURE 9) toengage each other so that the ejector arm 45 will be raised from the topof the stack of papers in the tray 13 when the ejector :arm support 38is ivoted upwardly as shown by the solid lines in FIG- URE 9. In thismanner, all of the ejector arms 45 and ejector feet are simultaneouslyraised from contact with the top sheet of paper, and great conveniencein loading trays is accomplished. Furthermore, the ejector arms 45 areautomatically lowered when the motor is restarted.

It is noted that the adjustability of the paper stop is for shorter orlonger sheets and the provision of a track 20 upon which ejector feetmay ride, without damage, accomplishes a collator of exceptionalversatility for use with sheets of many lengths and widths.

It is also noted that the positioning of the paper stop for narrowsheets of paper considerably enhances the versatility of the collar foruse not only with long and short sheets but also with wide and narrowsheets. Likewise, the offset positioning of the ejector arm 45 andejector feet accomplishes the ejection of paper in a linear manner inspite of the use of sheets of paper which are narrower than the width ofthe tray. The ejector arm support 58 is provided with square holes whichfit the square shafts 33 with very close tolerances so that the supports58 may be frictionally positioned at any point along the shafts 33 whichthe supports 58 may he slid along the shafts 33.

The ejector foot may be any one of a number of ejector feet in generaluse, such as the foot referred to in US. Patent No. 2,844,370.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodimentof the invention. The component parts have been shown and described.They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similarfunction; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for thesaid components and may have actually been known or invented before thepresent invention; these substitutes are contemplated as being withinthe scope of the appended claims, although they are not specificallycatalogued herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A collator comprising (a) a plurality of trays for supporting stacksof sheets,

(b) a reciprocatable carriage,

(c) a driving means for the carriage,

(d) sheet ejectors connected to the carriage and normally engaging thetop sheet of each stack in each tray,

(e) control means mounted on the carriage and connected to the ejectorsto simultaneously disengage each ejector from the top sheet of the stackin each tray,

(f) a detent pivotably attached to the control means,

(g) an elevated seat positioned to receive the detent when the controlmeans is lifted, and the ejectors are disengaged from the top sheets andto hold the ejectors elevated in that position,

(h) the detent riding off the seat when the carriage is reciprocated,whereby the control means falls, and the ejectors are returned toengagement with the top sheet of each stack,

(i) paper stops engageable at selected positions in the trays, whereinthe improvement also comprises,

(j) tracks for the ejectors to ride upon, pivotably attached to thepaper stops, and extending forwardly therefrom over the top of thestacks of papers in each tray.

2. A collator comprising (a) the device according to claim 1, and

(b) pairs of upstanding flanges on either side of the tracks.

3. A collator comprising (a) the device according to claim 1, and

(b) fingers on the bottom of the paper stops engageable anddisengageable with variously located holes in the trays.

4. A collator comprising the device according to claim 1,

and in which the control means comprises (a) a generally verticalmember,

(b) a plurality of shafts rotatably attached to the vertical member,

(0) links rigidly attached to the shafts,

(d) ejector arm supports rigidly attached to the shafts,

(c) ejector arms pivotably attached to the ejector arm supports,

5 6 (f) the ejectors attached to the ejector arms, 2,993,692 7/ 1961Thomas 270-58 (g) portions of the ejector arm supports engaging por-3,152,801 10/ 1964 Quinn et a1. 270-58 tions of the ejector arms as theejector arms com- 3,193,278 7/1965 Ullberg 27058 Inence to pivotupwardly, to prevent the ejector arms 3,269,721 8/ 1966 Taylor et a1.270-5 8 from pivoting downwardly- 5 3,353,324 11/1967 Pierson et a1 27142 X References Cited EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,314,243 3/1943 Potter 271 42 2,770,456 11/1956 Magarinos eta1. 27058 10 U.S. c1. X.R. 2,844,370 7/1958 Thomas 271-42 271-42 PAUL V.WILLIAMS, Assistant Examiner

